Martial Arts

After the martial arts competition concluded, Officer Huang led Gu Qingfeng to register and complete the paperwork, which was all necessary procedure.

The Yellow-rank Demon Eliminator position belonged to the Great Yan Dynasty's official system, so it naturally required proper registration and reporting to the imperial court - it wasn't as simple as just a verbal appointment.

An hour later, all procedures were completed.

"Congratulations, Lord Gu," Officer Huang said with a forced smile.

He was one of He Fenghua's people, otherwise He Fenghua wouldn't have let him oversee the competition.

Officer Huang was well aware of Gu Qingfeng's conflict with He Fenghua, which explained his less-than-friendly attitude.

This was Gu Qingfeng's first time being addressed as "Lord," and in his excitement, he paid no mind to Officer Huang's attitude.

"Thank you, thank you. By the way, Officer Huang, I heard there are still some benefits for Yellow-rank Demon Eliminators that haven't been distributed yet?"

"That's correct. A Yellow-rank Demon Eliminator can receive one Cultivation Foundation Pill and select one martial technique from the library. Please follow me, Lord Gu."

Even though Officer Huang disliked him, he still had to follow the regulations. He didn't dare to openly embezzle these benefits.

Subsequently, Officer Huang first took Gu Qingfeng to the pill room to collect a Cultivation Foundation Pill, then to the library.

Previously, Gu Qingfeng had only accessed the first floor of the library, never having the chance to enter the second floor. This time, under the pretense of selecting a martial technique, he successfully made it to the second floor.

The second floor was different from the first - it had fewer books because they were more precious, mostly consisting of martial arts technique manuals.

Martial techniques could typically only be practiced by warriors at the Internal Energy realm, so they weren't available to those at the Energy Gathering realm.

Gu Qingfeng's ability to become a Yellow-rank Demon Eliminator at Energy Gathering level three was what gave him this opportunity to learn martial techniques.

"Lord Gu, you have one hour to select a martial technique. You must leave when the time is up - those are the rules."

"Understood." Gu Qingfeng nodded and was about to start browsing, but Officer Huang stopped him again.

"If you ask me, Lord Gu, you might as well pick anything randomly. Without reaching the Internal Energy realm, you have no internal energy to execute these techniques. No matter how carefully you choose now, who knows when you'll actually be able to use them."

Officer Huang clearly didn't want to wait too long, hence his deliberate comment.

Of course, he was telling the truth - without internal energy, one couldn't execute martial techniques. Battles at the Energy Gathering realm mostly relied on basic moves.

Gu Qingfeng knew this too, including the fact that Hu Banqing's Five Tigers Gate-Breaking Blade and Bai Maming's White Horse Silver Spear were actually just moves, not martial techniques.

But given Gu Qingfeng's opportunistic nature, even if he couldn't use it yet, he was determined to select the best martial technique possible to maximize his benefit.

Gu Qingfeng entered the second floor of the library and began his selection.

He picked up the nearest book and started reading.

Yellow-rank Lower Grade Technique [Eight Wilderness Palm]

Embodying the concept of the eight cardinal directions, this palm technique features broad, powerful movements. When mastered, it can split mountains and crush rocks.

Weak!

After a quick glance, Gu Qingfeng put it down.

Walking a few steps further, he picked up another.

Yellow-rank Middle Grade Technique [Demon-Sweeping Fist]

Created specifically for slaying demons and monsters, this fist technique embodies explosive yang energy, capable of sweeping away all demons with a single punch.

"Damn, what an exaggeration! Someone might mistake it for a Heaven-grade technique. Besides, if it could kill demons with one punch, where would I get my attribute points from?"

Yellow-rank Middle Grade Technique [Shadowless Sword]

Yellow-rank Upper Grade Technique [Blazing Sun Slash]

Yellow-rank Upper Grade Technique [Demon-Breaking Finger]

Yellow-rank Upper Grade Technique.......

Gu Qingfeng searched for a long time but couldn't find anything satisfactory.

Finally, he reached the innermost bookshelf, which held only three technique manuals.

A small wooden sign hung beside the shelf, bearing the words "Mysterious-rank Techniques."

Gu Qingfeng was delighted and immediately began examining them.

These three were all Mysterious-rank techniques, the only ones on the entire second floor.

Mysterious-rank Lower Grade Technique [Falling Star Fist]

Created by observing falling meteors, this fist technique strikes like a falling star, with the force of collapsing heavens and the speed of lightning.

Mysterious-rank Lower Grade Technique [Swastika Seal]

Created by Buddhist practitioners, this magnificent and solemn technique causes all evil to retreat and is the bane of demons and monsters.

Mysterious-rank Middle Grade Technique [Single-Strike Sun-Burning Sword]

Created by an unnamed swordsman, it gathers the sun's fire energy, ignites one's bloodline, and burns all enemies.

These three techniques made Gu Qingfeng's eyes light up with desire. He wanted them all, but could only choose one. To select another in the future, he would need to accumulate merit points through completing missions.

Gu Qingfeng carefully evaluated the three techniques. First, he eliminated the [Swastika Seal]. Although it was effective against both humans and demons, its primary purpose was demon suppression.

Demon suppression methods were exactly what Gu Qingfeng needed least.

Then he eliminated the [Falling Star Fist]. While powerful, its training requirements were too strict - mastering it required observing a real meteor to understand its true essence, and meteors weren't easy to find.

Therefore, Gu Qingfeng's final choice was the [Single-Strike Sun-Burning Sword].

This was an extreme sword technique that channeled the sun's fire energy through the human body to attack enemies. It could harm the user before harming the enemy, and required extremely high control - one small mistake could result in self-immolation.

However, all these drawbacks were perfect for Gu Qingfeng, who possessed exceptional physical constitution and the fire-control talent.

With his fire-control talent, fire-attribute techniques were Gu Qingfeng's best choice. Not only did he get training bonuses, but the power would also be multiplied. Most importantly, among these three techniques, the [Single-Strike Sun-Burning Sword] was the most powerful, being a Mysterious-rank Middle Grade technique.

Actually, Mysterious-rank techniques shouldn't have been on the second floor of the library, as forcefully practicing high-level techniques without sufficient cultivation level often backfired. The presence of these three books had specific reasons.

The [Swastika Seal] was deliberately placed by the Demon Suppression Bureau's higher-ups to give lower-ranked Demon Eliminators powerful means against demons. Although difficult to master, being a Buddhist technique meant it was less likely to cause cultivation deviation, making it relatively safe for lower-ranked Demon Eliminators to practice.

The [Falling Star Fist] was there because its requirement for a meteor made it so restrictive that its value was greatly diminished, making it unworthy of the third floor.

As for the [Single-Strike Sun-Burning Sword], despite being a Mysterious-rank Middle Grade technique, its high difficulty, strict requirements, and risk of self-immolation made it have poor cost-performance ratio, hence its placement on the second floor.

This situation worked perfectly in Gu Qingfeng's favor.

However, all this was premature, as without reaching the Internal Energy realm and having internal energy, one couldn't execute martial techniques.

It was like having a gun without bullets - the technique was the gun, and internal energy was the bullets.

But after reviewing the Single-Strike Sun-Burning Sword, Gu Qingfeng had a bold idea.

"Although I don't have internal energy, I have the fire-control talent! And I have the White Bone Demon Fire!"

This thought excited him tremendously. If he could succeed, he would have another powerful trump card!

Gu Qingfeng checked the time and saw he had less than an incense stick's worth of time left. He was about to leave but remembered something and went to the first floor instead.

He found the Golden Bell Shield in the external techniques section before leaving satisfied.

Since everyone said he had mastered the Golden Bell Shield, he might as well actually master it.

Actually, he mainly wanted to learn the Golden Bell Shield to avoid being exposed by those with discerning eyes.